Unwritten
by witchhuntress
Summary: Kazuya Shibuya has never seen her. Mai Taniyama has never seen him. In a world where they are not acquainted, how come he remembers her? CH 2 UPDATED!
1. Rainbow

**A/N: **YES, I know. Another story? Wth, right? =.= My head is quite chaotic with all of these ideas that I just...need to release them. But I'm truthfully working on my other stories! **Below are percentages of my progress:**

**Rapture Chap 2: 70% done**

**Cloud 4=80% done**

**Dreams 4=65% done**

**Naru's Moving Castle 3= 75% done**

**Reminiscence (REWRITING) ch 2=0.1% done  
**

So, this story is just something that came in between my writing of the others, and when it intruded, it wouldn't leave my mind. So, I'm releasing it. ^^

* * *

**XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXDXD~nya~**

"Helloooo~~"

Seated in his whitewashed study, Kazuya Shibuya frowned at the black telephone. "What is it? You're disturbing me, Gene."

"Ehhh? What's that? You don't love me anymore? How cruel!"

"Goodbye then." Kazuya hovered his thumb over the switch hook.

"Ah wait, wait! I jest, alright? Sheesh!" Gene said hastily through the receiver.

He glared at the device. "Time isn't a luxury, so why are you wasting mine?"

"Aw, come on. I can't even speak and kid with you? You're too serious, you know?" He could see his older brother, with his black hair and dark eyes, pouting childishly.

Kazuya just sighed and, with his other hand, rotated his fountain pen over his fingers. "What is it then? Make haste. I have to attend the opening ceremony."

"You _**never**_ attend opening ceremonies."

He shrugged. "This year's different."

"You shan't tell lies~"

"Whatever. I have a thesis to finish."

"Again? Your contribution is already outstanding. That's overkill, you know?"

"It's for the convention."

"That's still on December."

He scowled. His brother just wouldn't leave it. "Time is of the essence."

"It is, but you're using it too wisely that you fail at living by default."

"Don't be foolish." Kazuya stood up, felt a satisfaction of his stretching muscles, and heard the squeak of the wheels of his ebony swiveling chair as it glided backwards. Shifting the receiver to his right ear, he turned around and sat on the edge of his mahogany desk while he peered at the sky beyond the glass windows. A pigeon was pecking on the ledge outside, and it stared at him, as though it noticed his gaze, before bolting away.

"I'm just saying that you should fancy a respite too. You can't spend your life endlessly writing articles for JJP or JSPR━whatever journal there is. _**That**_ is wasting time too, in a way, you know?"

He had a point...So Kazuya didn't reply, and there was a sough from the other end.

"Okay, okay. I get the silent treatment. So, how's Tokyo doing?"

"It's bleak."

It wasn't, really. The sun was out, and the sky was a bright blue. However, cumulo-nimbus clouds were lurking at the horizon.

"Be sure to have your umbrella ready then."

Kazuya glanced at the silver clock on the wall on his left. He still had to get the books he would use as references...

"I don't need to, Gene." He would bring one, of course. He knew it'll rain later.

"Well, what if you meet someone who needs it? There will be a thousand interesting possibilities after a small act of kindness to a girl━"

"Tell mother I'm doing fine," he interrupted and hung up. He could picture his sable-clad older brother blinking at a telephone in Cambridge and muttering tons of adjectives for him that Kazuya himself would probably hear the next time he picks up his phone━which would most likely be after two weeks or so.

He cast a fleeting look at his clock again. Thirty minutes before 1 o' clock...He would have fifteen minutes to eat, another fifteen to brush his teeth and dress up, another to drive to Komaba Campus, and another to do his mission in the library. Thereafter, exactly twenty-five minutes to walk to the classroom...

The lad spun around and ogled at the papers stacked on his spacious desktop. The green teapot was empty, and the contents of his teacup had gone cold...

So, he wended to the kitchen to brew some white tea and fix a quick meal.

* * *

**XDXDXDXDXD~nya~**

The Komaba library of Todai was a simple grayish and rectangular solid building. The columns on the porch were thin, almost like the toothpicks used on the diorama of it in the dean's office. Through the glass windows, he could see the counter, lounge, and computers.

Kazuya gazed at his sterling silver wristwatch and noted how much time he had left. Without greeting anyone and leaving his pitchy umbrella in a porcelain stand, he headed to the fourth floor. At his arrival, he readily traipsed the carpeted floor and slipped past yellowish brown bookshelves. The sun was streaming in and illuminated the room with its light. Only a few people had visited the library, and he was pleased at the quiet.

Actually, he was just nineteen. His onyx hair was long enough to have a shaggy yet neat look; it hid most of his forehead, framed his face until mid-ear, and stretched until a centimeter above the collar of his black blazer at the back. His pale face was smooth and unwrinkled. He had tucked his white buttoned-up shirt in sleek obsidian slacks and worn polished inky loafers, just like some high schoolers━though his blazer had no school emblem. He was as youthful as the bookworms already occupying the reading room on the very first day of the semester.

Finding the appropriate bookshelf, Kazuya turned a corner and stepped back reflexively. Before the rows of books was a perusing woman, apparently younger than him. She had brown eyes following the text on the tome on her hands and maroonish brown hair arching her back as she slouched, and she was past four tiers tall of the bookshelf.

Kazuya couldn't explain how he could recognize her when he could only see the left side of her face. She was different, entirely dissimilar with her knee-length carnation skirt and unbuttoned lime green cardigan over a lavender tank top. Rose patent wedges had never comforted her dainty feet, and her hair was never that waist-long...

The young genius shook his head. What was he thinking? How could he be so sure it was her? It was ridiculous of him, so he approached the spot beside her and observed her wince from the corner of his eye. He didn't peer at her any longer though and focused upon finding the books he needed so he could stride out of there.

"Um..."

Her voice was alike...but Kazuya stiffened his neck so he wouldn't whirl it to her. She's probably just murmuring to herself...

_**Where**_ was the book he needed anyway? In strange desperation, he extended his arm on the shelf in front of her and leafed through the titles also, yet he still couldn't...

"Um, are you looking for this?"

It was involuntary; he just suddenly whipped around to her. She blushed at his stare and, remembering what she was saying, showed him the cover of the book she was poring over. It was dark blue and had large letters for the title...but he couldn't just comprehend the characters at that moment.

"Were you looking for this?"

It was the book he was searching, without doubt, but he couldn't seem to break away from her heart-shaped face, with her fringe parting slightly on her forehead as she tilted her head a bit. It was inexplicable...how his orbs couldn't avert at all.

"Um...?"

He shrugged, shaking off from his odd...frozenness, and took the book from her. "Yes...thank you."

Her doll lips spread into an angelic smile. "You're welcome."

And with that she traversed past him.

Something ran through Kazuya's spine. Excitement? Consternation? He couldn't conceive. The only thing dashing in his mind was that she was the same. The way she dressed was different. The way she held herself was different.

But her face was the same.

Dropping the tome on the floor, he spun around and ran to her retreating form. His hands outstretched, he clasped her right arm and stalled her on the top of the stairs.

"What are you━?" She regarded him with bewilderment.

"You're Mai?" he queried, and her eyes expanded.

"H-how did you know my name?"

For the very first time, Kazuya Shibuya's eyes widened too.

* * *

**XDXDXDXDXDXDXD~nya~**

A minute of shocked silence felt like centuries.

"Um...?" She shifted, and he released her hand briskly but gently.

"You were in my dreams..." he finally explained.

She was the girl invading his slumber for months now. She was the girl...he'd thought didn't exist. The first time she showed up, he labeled her as an opposing representation of him...his anima, another side of his personality coin.

It was like being in a theater during his repose. The two of them would solve paranormal cases that are possible in real life. There were others aiding them too: a monk, priest, priestess, medium, and a scholar...There was even Lin too, an onmyouji whom he was very sure was in England with Gene.

They were dreams so vivid that they felt real, but he knew they never met like that. He never had encounters with such people, and he was not in Japan to find Gene; his brother was alive and kicking in England.

As perplexed as he was, "Mai" blinked at him, and then she covered her mouth and looked sideways with a, "Pfft!"

Kazuya Shibuya gave her a quizzical look. "Pfft?"

She gazed at him with bright eyes and said, "That is a very old-fashioned pick-up line, you know?"

Nonplussed, the young man stared at her. "I wasn't━"

She chuckled and crossed her arms over a book she'd probably chosen from another shelf. "It's alright. You might have mistaken me, right?"

He was spot-on. Her eyes were unsettled despite her beaming. She knew he wasn't mistaken. He knew she could feel his certainty...and she's afraid as to how he could've known her that much when they'd never met.

With a quick bow and a mirthful smile, she said, "See you then."

She then briskly started her descent.

But there his hand went to grab her again, and her doe eyes were as shocked as he was.

"Why are you━?"

"You're an orphan," he said expressionlessly and scanned her face closely. "Your father died before you could even see him, and your mother died while you were in junior high."

She nictated at him again. She opened and closed her mouth, but nothing came out. Before long, she squinted and widened her eyes and then narrowed them again.

And she glared.

"Excuse me, but my parents are very alive," she responded firmly, yanked her arm out of his grasp, and continued going down.

But the professor didn't give up as his hand held her arm again━which made her gasp and flinch. "You were born on the third of June, and you have friends named Michiru and Keiko."

She halted and goggled at him in astonishment. "H-how...did you know that?"

"In my dreams," he answered, and a peculiar sensation welled up inside him. Talking like that, there was something familiar...

She evulsed her arm again and looked at him as though he was nuts before leaving him swiftly and completely.

* * *

**XDXDXDXDXDXDXDXD~nya~**

When she darted (with her shoes clip-clopping into an unstoppable beat until it faded) away from him, he had stood on the stairway like someone frozen in random action━a hand outstretched, as though reaching for something-not-there━during a children's game. For one thing, he was new to that; girls usually ran_** to**_ him, not _**away**_. On another note, they would swoon just at his mention of recognizing them, so not only did she divert from the norm, she also eluded from it.

When he had come to, however, Kazuya pondered that her reaction was natural and that he acted like a fraudulent fortune-teller, mumbling about what he knew about her in a questioning tone to confirm if he guessed right by her reaction thereafter. He felt like a lunatic lingering on the stairs, so he immediately trudged back up the fourth floor and tried as best as he could to shun the encounter of the eidolon-now-concrete in his mind.

But tried as he might, reality was as difficult to forget as a recurring fantasy.

Anyway, the thunderheads that isolated themselves on the horizon had drifted over the campus and started its weeping. Occasionally, the sun would peek out from the blind spots of the overcast, and the areas between the bookshelves would be irradiated.

After checking the time, he had reserved books instead for he had spent five minutes more in the library than he'd planned. Also, he couldn't risk sauntering the campus with the materials in the downpour, and he didn't need them right away. So, after making the arrangements with a sleepy librarian, he somewhat hurriedly descended three floors.

"_H-how...did you know that?" _her voice echoed in his mind.

Frowning, he took the umbrella from the porcelain stand near the exit. He was as puzzled at why she appeared in his dreams as she was at him for knowing things about her. Twenty...About twenty percent of what he knew from his dreams was true...

So why...? What kind of ability was that?

Fortunately, he was given another chance to find out: Her shivering back was facing him by the porch of the library. A gold messenger bag was slung over her right shoulder, which was slightly wet as well as some of her hair, skirt, and dirt-grained shoes. It seemed like she was caught by the shower a meter away from the library, and in panic, she returned to where stranded and non-umbrella-bringing folks agonized if they should just risk being absent for a lecture or care to arrive in time despite bedraggled clothes.

Unluckily for the unprepared, the rain would most likely not stop until dusk, and her sighs were apparent.

"_...There will be a thousand interesting possibilities after a small act of kindness to a girl━"_

His brother's advice couldn't be anything but precise at that instance.

Stepping beside her and looking ahead as though peering through the wall of flowing rain before them, he pushed open his umbrella and hovered it over his head. With precision, he locked his gaze with hers.

"What building?"

Biting her lip and reddening, she shrugged and shunted her head, and he'd surmised she wouldn't answer a rather fishy unknown person...

It was inexplicable...how he was like something pulled to a magnet that was her. He had only seen her in his dreams, but those dreams were numerous enough as though they were memories themselves. Dreams feigning to be memories...had made their interaction felt nostalgic.

A gust blew, and she drew back with a yelp as she was sprinkled with cold raindrops. Unawarely lifting a corner of his mouth, he poised the umbrella over her, and she nictated at him in confusion.

"W-why...?"

He shrugged. If he told her the same reason again, she would think he's crazy...Wait...When did he ever care about what other people think of him?

"My brother said I should help girls," he rationalized, and her eyelids fluttered in amusement.

Then, she covered her mouth, veered her head, and chortled once more, so he felt extremely silly then. There he was, approaching her so boldly, and he was making lame excuses his conversation with Gene had planted in him.

What was happening to him?

Her laughing finally stopped, she examined him, hesitantly grasped the handle of the umbrella (on the spot just above his grip), and took a step beside him while motioning it over the two of them.

Coyly, she answered, "Building 2...I'm going to be late, so..."

She gulped, and he nodded.

Once they stepped in the rain, everything seemed out-of-this-world: their sleeves brushing as they advanced, the sprinting people beside them, and the synchronization of their gait. It was too much...The déjà vu was too much...

And he just dreamt of her...

"How did you know it will rain?" she slowly spoke with an awkward smile. "Your umbrella was the only one in the stand..."

It was as though what transpired a while ago didn't matter as he looked obliquely at her and replied, "An airplane yesterday showed me."

"Um...huh?" She knitted her eyebrows, but her eyes were gleaming with interest.

He side-glanced at her. "When an airplane leaves trails and it doesn't disappear, the air is moist, and clouds will form."

"I see..."

He glimpsed at her through the corner of his eye. "Clouds form when water vapor condenses."

She pouted. "I know that."

He smirked and then retracted. He became cognizant that he'd just teased her...just like he did so often in his dreams...He had tested her intelligence...But...

She'd understood it quickly, so how could he call her an idiot in his dreams? Reality was quite contrary as always.

But not every time, and the lad was intrigued as to how much more of the information about her that he got from his dreams was true. It was probably that; it's his curiosity that was drawing him to her in an almost moth-to-a-flame fashion.

The pitter-patter of rain on the black umbrella drowned the slapping noises of their shoes on small puddles.

Fidgeting, she cast him a brief look. "You're...getting wet."

He shrugged and didn't look at her. "I'm fine."

His right sleeve would dry in the heated classroom anyway...

"A-about before..." She nipped her lower lip, quite an adorable━

Wait. Adorable?

He harrumphed and uttered, "You don't have to believe that. Forget it."

She blinked at him and looked away with a rosy tint on her cheeks. "You...seem to know a lot about me."

"...Yes." He just couldn't deny it still...

"But I haven't seen you before...yet..."

"It's like we've known each other for a long time?" he continued for her, and she shyly jounced her head.

"It's...weird..." She wrinkled her nose.

Anyway, _**he**_ was weird. What were his dreams of her for? For an uncomfortable meeting like that? It was unintelligible.

Somehow suffering from a momentary aphasia, Kazuya was voiceless, and so was she. Her uneasiness had resurfaced, and he observed her avoidance to browse his face.

What would he do afterwards? Memorize her lecture room at the exact time and day? What goal was in it for him?

Just like her, Kazuya glommed the showering campus. The ginkgo trees lined both sides of the stone walkway. The fallen leaves were crunched under their shoes, and they created meager splashes as they ambled.

"Ack!"

Kazuya halted and gazed at his side, but he discovered that she was standing and bowing behind him. Ignoring the raindrops on her figure, she held up a part of her skirt's hem with a grimace.

He drew near her dutifully. "What's wrong?"

She was pursing her lips in annoyance but soon, looking up at him, flushed and averted her eyes. "It's my skirt; it's muddied...a little."

Louring while glaring at a speck of dirt on the hem, she muttered, "This is why I hate skirts."

"You do?" He raised an eyebrow. In his dreams, she usually wore one...not including school days however...high school days...

His dreams...were of a younger Mai...

"Yeah. I'm just forced to wear all this━" She gestured to her ensemble. "━for the opening ceremony and well...the whole day. It's my mother's skirt, and she'll freak out if there's even a dot of ink on it━"

"Run to class~~ You're going to be late~~" a child's━a boy's━voice rang out from her bag, and she pinkened and bowed. "That was my phone! I'm so sorry for holding you up! I'll go and run━"

"We're going the same way," he informed swiftly.

Data...He needed to gather data about her, right?

She bit her lip, and he could feel her anxiety. Sharing an umbrella with a stranger was one thing, but sharing an umbrella with a stranger who deemed to know more about you was most likely...creepy.

Kazuya tried to ignore that fact and glimpsed at his watch.

"There's still time left," he lied, sort of━well, there's still time left, but the time he planned to arrive at his next destination was already due three minutes ago.

"I'm sorry," she repeated and started walking with him once more. "I get distracted with little things..."

"Just like your change of mood," he commented, and she blinked at him.

"What do you mean?"

He studied her bemused face and diverted his eyes with another harrumph. How should he explain━?

"In my dreams, you're quite fickle," he blurted.

Mai gawked at him, went erubescent, and then giggled. "So I was really in your dreams?"

"...Yes."

Still crimson-cheeked, she shunted her head. "I don't know if I should believe you or not."

He arched his brow. "What do you think is the truth then?"

Was she a dream or reality? Was his dream a reality, or was reality a dream? Could either be a parallel universe?

He couldn't tell too...which "Mai" was real...The Mai in his dreams and the Mai in reality...They were both real to him...

Where would dream and reality collide? What was fake and genuine?

She nictated at him and appeared pensive. "Well...you look and sound so serious when you said it, so...you're quite persuasive...But for you to know things about me like a private eye or something...I feel stumped somehow. Are you investigating me?"

It was kind of her not to label him a stalker despite the qualifications he seemed to have...

He joggled his head, and she scowled. "I can't tell the truth at all."

He scrutinized the path ahead and curved his lips upward. Smiles on his countenance were infrequent, but when they grazed his comely features, they would be well-hidden...most often.

There was a sigh, and Kazuya noted the white building they were nearing upon. He wasn't a conversationalist, but there was an urge to speak more to her...learn more about her..."gather data and jot down empirical evidence" in his cerebral cortex. He never had the desire of befriending a human━of the opposite sex at that━since birth; interaction was not his key point, but he did it for social courtesy than human symbiosis. Therefore, the longing to...be closer to her was overwhelming...and novel to him.

What was happening to him? She was just a part of his dreams, that's all!

Her feet didn't stop padding towards the ivory building, and he found himself unable to desist too although his brain cells were scolding his motor cells...

"Thank you," her voice reverberated to his ears, and he jounced his head quietly. They were on the vestibule already...

She halted with him and waited for his response, but he couldn't think of anything to say, for the first time. So, simpering and flushing, she bowed. "I-I'll be going. Thank you again."

And she scrammed.

No "nice to meet you's" or exchange of complete names...He was a stranger, and she left his status in her life as that.

That was supposed to be fine for him. So what if he'd been dreaming of her? So what if he couldn't gather data about her any longer? It's not like it was a loss for him...yet why was there some opposition...?

Why...was he not contented with the status quo between them?

Mysteriously, his feet tailed her bonny form.

* * *

**XDXDXDXD~nya~**

_What's with this guy? Why is he following me?_

I hastened my steps along the stairs to the second floor, but I couldn't scamper.

_Dang these wedges! Dang these heels!_

If my mother hadn't threatened me into one, I would have been prancing to my classroom with my sneakers already.

The guy-who-suddenly-took-advantage-of-my-lack-of-an-umbrella-to-accost-me was still at my tails even when I reached the silver-grey door of my classroom. I had been trying not to look his way to avoid speaking further, but it didn't daunt him that I wasn't paying any heed. Rather...it's like it fueled him.

_You're wrong, mother! Being girly doesn't only attract simple admirers but also stalkers, molesters, kidnappers..._

My imagination and reason were going wild.

I slid the door of my classroom, but it didn't budge...

_Locked? Why now of all━?_

_Ack!_

_And he's beside me!_

"It's not open yet?" his voice resonated, and I became scarlet.

_What am I supposed to dooooooo? _my inner voice was shrieking.

Amidst the chaos of my mind, I realized something and blinked. Then I perked up at him and feigned an alarmed expression.

"You're my classmate?"

He took me in and shrugged. He wasn't even embarrassed or anything. How shameless, right?

"No..." he finally replied, and my heart was leaping in joy.

_Great! Halleluiah! The stalking must end, right?_ _Yessssssss~~_

I was smiling inwardly, and my eyes were probably showing my glee. Still, I pretended I was disappointed and showed a crestfallen visage.

"Oh, I see. Well, then...I'll be going to the faculty room..." I lied.

And to my bewilderment, he took out a key from his pants' pocket, slipped it in the keyhole, and unlocked the door to my classroom...

Then he added, "I'm your professor."

I swore my eyes and mouth were never as broad as at that instance.

_Oh Kami-sama, my professor is a stalker!_

**XDXDXDXDXDXDXD~nya~**

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry, Naru...XD I just keep on giving you wicked roles hahahaaaa~~


	2. Polygon

**A/N: I'm alive! WOOHOO! LOL XD As usual, I am very busy with school, so I can't update much. =.= I had to meet a certain status, or I'll be damned. However, I do write small things here and there. ^^**

**For the rewritten Reminiscence chapters, I am still about 3/4 done with chapter 3; others not yet. As a heads up, though, after I finish rewriting Reminiscence, I'll be making a one-shot that fills in the gap of lost time/un-narrated time before the start of Dollmaker's events. I'd seen the lacking development when I was rewriting the first 2 chapters of Reminiscence, so I'll be fixing the chronology and order of things soon! ^^**

**As for Dreams, I will be rewriting it too in some parts, and do some serious editing and proofreading. For Cloud, I just have some details to fill in for the 4th chap, and some serious description to put. Avenue will be on hiatus for a moment, although I have my thoughts on it, but I'm somehow lazy for now. Naru's Moving Castle ch 3 is like...3.5/4 done, but again, there are serious description and other things to fill in.**

**I am sorry if I'm not updating regularly as all those amazing authors out there. I'm sort of a slow writer...because I think too much, and there are a lot of things I'm so busy about lol.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoy this chap! ^^ **

* * *

**XDXDXDXD~nya~**

_Thi-this is so embarrassing!_

I tried to hide from my [stalker's] professor's sight as soon as I sat on the back of the lecture room. Other students had streamed in, and I was glad there was a distraction...

But still...I could feel eyes on me even when I'm on the very back...

_What is up with this?!_

When the last student slipped in before the class time started, my [stalker] professor went to shut the doors before coming back to his desk. The whiteboard was such a contrast to his dark hair and similarly, slightly, bleak ensemble.

With a click of some tiny remote, the projector screen rolled down, and he showed us a slide show of pictures.

_No introductions. No tell-me-your-name-and-course-and-expectations-for-this-class activity. _

_No sense of building a rapport with us..._

But that didn't stop most of the girls from giggling at him before he first spoke.

Somehow, unlike me, they weren't clueless about how young their professor is, and perhaps, with the somewhat 5 by 1 ratio of women to men in the class...knowing he was the professor might have been the drive to enroll in the course itself...

"Who can tell me what those pictures depict?" his voice echoed in the room when he hit the black screen, and there was silence before hands shot up.

He nodded at a curly-haired girl in a red polka-dotted white dress.

"They're ghosts!" she said in a sprightly manner.

My [stalker] professor nodded.

"Specter, spirit, or, yes, ghosts as they are often called," he began, "but from this moment, I want to make it clear to everyone; _**ghosts don't exist in this world**_."

The silence was so crisp, so breakable, yet nobody wanted to end it. I guess, everyone could tell the seriousness in his voice.

_They don't exist...?_

_And yet he'll be teaching stuff about the paranormal?!_

I bravely raised my hand, and he elevated an eyebrow at me.

_No more hiding for now._

_And I didn't come here to be forgotten, anyway._

Without waiting for his nod, I stood up and asked, "Sensei, if ghosts don't exist, why can some people see them?"

Some of my classmates jounced their heads and eagerly awaited his response―which was quick and unperturbed.

"Some people _**claim**_ they see ghosts, but their testimonies couldn't be accounted as pieces of factual evidence."

"But that doesn't mean they're not real." I frowned.

"It does not conclude they're real either." He was as calm as a wave-less sea.

"But what if those who see them are telling the truth?"

His gaze was penetrating, and I almost swallowed.

"How can you know they are telling the truth and are not under the influence of psychedelic drugs, diagnosed with schizophrenia, or simply just faking it?" he responded.

_Well, yeah..._

I scowled. "They _**do**_ exist."

His face remained emotionless. "Unless ghosts become _**observable and measurable**_ beings like the humans they're thought to be once, they do not exist in this world."

_Measurable?!_

"You mean _**guinea pigs**_." Venom laced my tone, and I didn't care.

He just shrugged and smirked. "Perhaps."

_What a mad scientist!_

I thinned my lips, and he raised an eyebrow at me again.

In my mind, my dissent was overpowering, merciless.

_They do exist. __**Ghosts do exist.**_

_..._

_..._

_..._

_Because I can see them._

_Because I can talk to them._

* * *

**XDXDXDXDXD~nya~**

For the first time, Kazuya Shibuya remained in the lecture room after class. Usually, he would leave the whiteboard un-cleaned, but uncommonly, he feigned to erase his marks on that pale board...

And kept glancing her way as she returned her notebook and pen to her messenger bag.

As peculiar as it sounded, he'd expected her to stop by his desk and debate about the existence of ghosts. Earlier, she seemed very passionate about proving the existence of ghosts to him that his mind itched to tell her he believes they exist too.

_Just __**not**__ in this world._

To his odd disappointment, she didn't even once glance at him when she exited the room, and when his feet involuntarily stepped forward to tail her, his other students (all girls) halted him in his tracks with their shallow questions that have answers he could've written on their slam books.

Since she was then entirely out of earshot, he faked a smile to his hormone-driven students and said, "I apologize, but can you send me your questions through e-mail instead? I still have a meeting to attend to."

Dumbfounded at his sparkling beam, the girls nodded, and he strode off without looking back.

What he planned next would be like this: he'd come back to his office, try to get out irrelevant thoughts off his nervous system through re-reading his thesis, and then...

Relenting, Kazuya Shibuya decided to call his twin.

* * *

**XDXDXDXDXDXD~nya~**

His brother picked up his cellphone on the third ring.

"Hello, I'm sorry I can't answer you right now, so if you can kindly leave a message after I sing the Narcissus's song―"

"Gene—"

"Round and round the garden like Narciss-us~Yeah~"

Kazuya loured. "I met her."

"Beeeeeeeep. Your message was invalid. Please try again la―"

"I met _**the girl in my dreams**_, idiot," he grunted, keeping anger in check.

There was silence and then a shuffle. "No kidding."

"I don't kid like you," he growled.

"No, seriously? '_**The girl in your dreams**_?' What happened to you that you're using cliché mushy lines? Did the rain hit you so hard?" His twin sounded like on the edge of howling with laughter.

So Kazuya just sighed. "Yes. Whatever."

There was a gasp. "Holy mole-y."

"Who infected you with that?"

"Mum."

"Again?"

"Yup. The housewife network is brilliant."

Once more, he sighed. "Last time, you said it was the homeless network."

"Well, the housewife network is what she's recently interested in."

Kazuya scowled. "We're digressing."

"Oh, no! I was merely distracting you to see how obsessed enough you are to remember coming back to the topic."

"It's normal to come back to the topic. I'm always focused, unlike you."

"Ahh we shall settle our differences soon. So anyway, how was she like in front of you?" There was a rustle, and Kazuya surmised that his twin was skimming something…

"Undeniably girly." Kazuya shrugged. He was back in his office, and the sun was starting to set. The room was then illuminated by an orange hue.

The rustling stopped. "Of course she is, you prick! Girls are―"

"I meant her clothes."

There was a dramatic gasp. "Oh my! I'd never thought you're knowledgeable about women's fashion―"

"Enough. For once, stop that nonsense, and listen to me."

"Whoa, you're getting riled up." Gene soughed. "I guess you're really serious huh."

"I'm always serious," Kazuya admitted.

"So lame..."

"Just listen, idiot." Kazuya leaned slightly on his desk and peered at the sinking sun.

"Hai, hai, dear narcissist, what else are you willing to tell me?" Gene blew out.

"Her history is different."

"You mean her life?"

"Yes."

"Well, that's expected. You of all people know very well how to distinguish a dream from reality, so―"

"It's not that easy. Why did I dream about her in the first place? You know I don't have that kind of ability."

"Well, you'll never know."

"And the dream isn't accurate, so if it's merely make-believe, why was it so vivid? And it's only her name that I can remember all the time―"

"You can remember the faces though?"

"No. They're always blank. Except hers."

Another gasp.

And then Gene was applauding from the other end that Kazuya might have as well rolled his eyes.

"Oh my, you're finally _**love-struck**_, Oliver. Congratulations~ Mother will be pleased to hear of your puppy lo―"

"Stop that," Kazuya growled.

Gene giggled. "Heehee~~"

Kazuya withdrew an exhausted breath. "Just as I thought, you're not helping."

"But you still called me, so I'm at least the most reliable?"

"Hardly."

His twin snorted. "Well, I'm used to playing your therapist."

"You're nothing of the sort." Kazuya's eyes straitened.

Gene just chuckled. "Alright, alright! So, what are you going to do?"

"Observe, of course..."

"Ahh so typical of a _**love-struck scientist**_, observing _**the object of his desire**_ like she's a lab rat―"

"You and your analogy are always ridiculous."

"I'm still loved though."

Kazuya sighed in defeat. "Just...do some research for me there. Of the same ability."

"Of dreams like memories?"

"Yes."

"Hmm, I need an incentive."

"That is very charitable of you," Kazuya returned with a smirk.

"Okay, I'll tell mother you're having an affair with your student―"

Kazuya suspired. "What do you want?"

"Whoa. That's really something. It's that serious, Noll? You never wavered before."

"I'm not wavering. I'm just not fond of the idea of you coming with our parents to visit me after you dropped your _**mind bomb**_."

"Mind bomb? Whoa, what a term! You've never been this descriptive! Oh my, are you shy about her?" Gene giggled again, to Kazuya's annoyance.

"What are you talking about? We're not close, and we'll never be."

"Really?"

"Absolutely."

It was Gene's turn to smirk. "But she's your student, so you'll be _**tempted.**_"

Kazuya raised an eyebrow. "How do you know she's my student?"

"Because you reacted before. You're so _**naughty**_, little brother!"

"..."

"So, what was it? Love at first sight?"

"..."

"Ah! You dreamt of her first, so I guess that means it's love _**before**_ sight?"  
...

"Goodbye, Gene."

"Hey!"

Kazuya pressed the switch hook, heard the beeping sound of the ended call, stared at the receiver on his hands, and pondered about what his brother just said.

Indeed she was _**his student**_, and he'd be meeting her MWF every week from 1:45 pm until 2:45 pm.

He had a lot of time for obser―teaching! (He's a professor!)

Kazuya soughed.

He'd thought she was nothing but an eidolon in his sleep. That she didn't exist in reality…How could he compare the often unladylike image in his unconscious to a refined young woman? Her reaction was natural too. He'd concluded his madness when he ruminated about what he just did.

How could he be...so direct like that?

But then, he'd always been direct, and for him to worry about being his usual self around her...was perplexing.

Kazuya ran a hand through his hair. He definitely needed to set his priorities straight.

* * *

**XDXDXDXD~nya~**

"I'm hoome~" My voice reverberated the deserted threshold.

I softly shut the door and sat on the platform before it to take off my shoes and wear my light blue slippers.

"Welcome back," my mother shouted from the kitchen.

I sniffed around as I straightened and smiled at the recognized scent. Feeling brighter as I passed by the yellow and white striped walls of the hallway, I proceeded to where she is and kissed her cheek.

"How was Todai?" she queried while holding a ladle in midair. She was wearing a blue-green apron over a lavender tee and brown skirt. Her long reddish tresses were held up into a ponytail.

High cheekbones, brown eyes, and bee-stung lips…My mother was hot despite her simplicity.

_Well…I may be biased, but…_

"It was nice."

"Met any hot guys?"

_Gah._

I normally rolled my eyes, but instinctively, I blushed. "Shouldn't you ask about my professors first?"

"Ara, so you met a hot one~"

"No! All my professors are older than you!"

"Except one," my mother persisted with a malicious glint in her eyes. "There's always an exception."

_Gah!_

I pouted and sighed. "Mohh. Fine! Yes, there is one."

"What's his name?" she asked and stirred the contents of the silver pot on the stove.

"Octagon." I slumped on a chair before an amber counter.

She blinked at me. "His name is _**Octagon**_?"

I smiled. "Nope. It's my nickname for him~"

She put a hand to her cheek. "Ara, you're that close already? How youthful!"

I flushed and shook my head. "No we're not! Well he did hit on me—"

She stopped stirring and gushed, "Oh my, thank heavens! Didn't I tell you so? Men will notice you! And you say it's your prof?! My, you're really my daughter! Tomorrow, you'll have to wear something more stunning than today!"

I frowned. "You really get excited with these things."

She beamed. "I can only be your mother for a short time."

I blew out my fringe. "Don't speak gloomy things like that."

"You'll leave me someday and build your own family—"

I covered my ears. "Aaaaaah. Stop it. I don't want to hear about the future. Now is now! I won't leave you."

She smiled sadly, and I sighed once more.

"Let's eat." Mother turned off the stove and began to top chicken curry on two plates with rice already.

I took some stainless spoon and fork from a canister and chopsticks from another.

"Have you met him?" asked mother as she sat across me on the counter and lodged our plates on the surface along with a platter of gyoza.

"Who?" My eyes twinkled.

"You know who." Mother furrowed her brow.

I shrugged as I pick on my carrot pieces. "I forgot...Who was you-know-who again?"

"Oliver Davis."

"Oh...No, I haven't. We don't have any foreign profs." I gulped a sliced carrot and drank some water.

"His Japanese name is _**Kazuya Shibuya**_. Remember that."

"How does he look like?"

Mother shrugged her immaculate shoulders. "I have no idea because there isn't any picture taken of him. Just remember that he's one of the professors there."

"He's probably a very old man, right? So far, I don't have past middle age as professors."

"It's not only the professors you have that you need to note about. The others too."

"Yeah..." I crossed my legs. "After I know who this _Oriberu_ is, what should I do? Get you an autograph, Mum? He's got a lot of awards, right?"

"Yes, but..."

"But?" I tilted my head.

She narrowed her eyes and said solemnly, "No. If you know who he is, be sure to stay away from him. He's an enemy."

* * *

**XDXDXDXD~nya~**

"Here."

He tossed the 500 yen coin upwards, and I held up my hands to catch it, but nothing fell or clinked on the ground.

So I pouted and knobbed my hands and told him he feigned to throw the small thing, and then he said I scared the coin because of my loud voice. Next, he pulled out the coin from his left shoulder, and I praised him for his magic tricks. But he didn't confirm he could do magic.

Then his coin talked and said it wasn't magic.

And he assured it that I wasn't scary as I appeared to be…

Before long that scene crumbled, and surrounded in white, I was running, and someone was holding my hand. He was wearing white too…He was in front of me as we ran, but I soon stalled due to out of breath.

"Le─Let's take a rest!" I pleaded.

He halted with me and finally faced me…

Black hair and blue or black eyes…

They were so familiar yet distant…

"We have to get away, so endure it for a while. No more than a minute, Mai." He frowned, but his eyes were brimming with worry…and fear?

_Why?_

"Can't we just hide…for now until…we…reach the entrance?"

"No. We can't stay so long. They can still find us."

"That's─"

"Mai." He squeezed my hand. "It'll be alright."

His determination won me over, and I mustered up what little strength remained from my strained muscles to run another meters ahead with him.

But then something hit him from behind, and he fell forward.

Everything remained white and immobile…

Until blood splattered on the white floor, and I screamed.

"NARU!"

* * *

**XDXDXDXDXDXD~nya~**

I jolted upright as sweaty and panting.

_Dreadful…_

I shivered at the vivid replays in my merciless head.

_Erase! Erase!_

Still there was something else more important to address…

_Why did I dream of him?_

_Why did I…act so close to him?_

It was just a dream…It could have just been a dream…

But why was I so convinced it was real?

Why…couldn't I think it's not real?

I ran both of my hands through my hair and bowed.

"Why did I call Octagon as _**Naru**_…?"

**XDXDXDXDXD~nya~**

* * *

**A/N: Why, indeed? ^^ Rapture will be on hiatus until I finished rewriting Reminiscence. I will re-edit later.**


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